The Midnight Library by Matt Haig: A review

“Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices… Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?”

This is a book about the roads not taken. What would happen if at key points of our life we had chosen differently? How would our life be different? Would it be better? This is the conundrum faced by Nora Seed. She has lost her beloved cat and her job and it seems that she has nothing left to live for. Nora feels that her life has been a waste, a failure, and she decides to end it all.

She is full of regrets, feeling that at every crossroad in her life she has taken the wrong turn. But then she finds herself transported to a library filled with books that all contain different lives that she might have lived or maybe can still choose to live. Most importantly, the librarian, Mrs. Elm, is there for her just as she was at another strategic moment in Nora's life when her father died.

The book reminded me of nothing so much as the classic movie "It's a Wonderful Life." Nora has a chance to see how the different lives contained in the book would have played out if she had chosen to live them. The lesson for Nora is that each life has its ups and downs, pros and cons. It seems there is no such thing as the perfect life; nevertheless, maybe there can still be a wonderful life.

Matt Haig gives us an empathetic and compassionate telling of Nora's life and the decisions she must make. I read somewhere that he has suffered from depression himself and his narrative seems informed by his own personal experience. That being said, I didn't really like Nora very much. She seems totally focused on the negative in life and I could never really get a read on her personality beyond that negativity. Well, I guess that's why she's depressed! Duh.

But her story is really well told and even if it is hard to sympathize with Nora, it does make one pause to consider one's own life and how it might have turned out differently if different choices had been made. The narrative is fast-paced and seems to flow effortlessly. The message of the book, at least as I understood it, is that it is best to live in the moment and make the most of the opportunities that we have here rather than being consumed with regret over "what might have been."

Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

How about we share another Mary Oliver poem? After all, you can never have too many of those. In this one, the poet seems to acknowledge that it is often hard to simply live in and enjoy the moment, perhaps because we are afraid it can't last. She urges us to give in to that moment and fully experience the joy. Although "much can never be redeemed, still, life has some possibility left." Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is no...

Poetry Sunday: Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney

My mother was a farm wife and a prodigious canner. She canned fruit and vegetables from the garden, even occasionally meat. But the best thing that she canned, in my opinion, was blackberry jam. Even as I type those words my mouth waters! Of course, before she could make that jam, somebody had to pick the blackberries. And that somebody was quite often named Dorothy. I think Seamus Heaney might have spent some time among the briars plucking those delicious black fruits as well, so he would have known that "Once off the bush the fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour." They don't keep; you have to get that jam made in a hurry! Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney Late August, given heavy rain and sun For a full week, the blackberries would ripen. At first, just one, a glossy purple clot Among others, red, green, hard as a knot. You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet Like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust ...

Poetry Sunday: Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman

You probably remember poet Amanda Gorman from her appearance at the inauguration of President Biden. She read her poem "The Hill We Climb" on that occasion. After the senseless slaughter in Uvalde this week, she was inspired to write another poem which was published in The New York Times. It seemed perfect for the occasion and so I stole it in order to feature it here, just in case you didn't get a chance to read it in the Times . Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman Everything hurts, Our hearts shadowed and strange, Minds made muddied and mute. We carry tragedy, terrifying and true. And yet none of it is new; We knew it as home, As horror, As heritage. Even our children Cannot be children, Cannot be. Everything hurts. It’s a hard time to be alive, And even harder to stay that way. We’re burdened to live out these days, While at the same time, blessed to outlive them. This alarm is how we know We must be altered — That we must differ or die, That we must triumph or try. ...

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